Biographical Info

My laboratory investigates vector-borne diseases. Studies are directed
toward understanding Lyme disease, Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis, and
West Nile virus. Efforts on Lyme disease include exploring immunity to
Borrelia burgdorferi, selective B. burgdorferi gene expression in vivo,
and the immunobiology of Lyme arthritis. Human granulocytic
ehrlichiosis is caused by a newly described pathogen, transmitted by
Ixodes scapularis ticks, that persists within neutrophils. We are
investigating the molecular strategies that this pathogen uses to
survive in polymorphonuclear leukocytes. West Nile virus can cause
fatal encephalitis, and we seek to understand the pathogenesis of this
emerging disease. Finally, we are also developing molecular approaches
to prevent ticks from feeding on a mammalian host, thereby interfering
with pathogen transmission.

International Activity

West-Nile Virus ProteinCanada(2010)Yale and McGill University scientists have identified a protein that is critical in fighting mosquito-borne West Nile Virus in mice. This finding could have therapeutic implications for controlling the potentially deadly virus in humans. The study appears in the Advance Online Publication of Nature Immunology.

Pathogenesis of Lyme DiseaseNetherlands; Netherlands(2007)The goal of this project is to determine how specific components of the Lyme disease agent, Borrelia burgdorferi, and its arthropod vector, Ixodes ticks, contribute to the pathogenesis of Lyme disease in Europe.